IN many ways it’s a nice problem to have: too many animals, too little space – the sign of a successful show. If there’s any doubt, ask the late, lamented Royal Show of England.

Even so, there’s an undercurrent of unhappiness among livestock exhibitors at this year’s Royal Welsh Show. Walk the cattle and sheep lines and you’ll soon hear moans about quarts being squeezed into very cramped pint pots.

Many exhibitors have been forced to leave animals at home this year – victims of a Royal Welsh purge designed to give as many people as possible a fair crack of the whip.

Year after year the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) has trumpeted its “record” livestock and equine entries, but it’s now the trend is becoming a burden. Numbers of sheep and cattle are up this year again, by more than 400, and the place is bursting at the seams.

Not helping was last year’s demise of England’s Royal Show, diverting exhibitors across the border.

Cattle exhibitors have warned of the beginning of the end. It won’t be, of course, but many are irritated – especially as TB has forced the late withdrawal of a number of entries.

So too, sheep exhibitors, who this year have been forced to cut numbers or forgo the extra pen they used to store feed, straw and deckchairs.

At the heart of the problem is the show’s undisputed standing as Britain’s finest. It’s absolutely the event at which to win silverware.

But there are other issues too: showing livestock gives exhibitors all-important access to an on-showground caravan pitch, and some, it is muttered, would show just a single animal just to get a spot.

Responding to this, the RWAS said that, this year, sheep exhibitors must enter at least two animals. But for some, the hassle has been too much: at least two Royal Welsh regulars at last month’s Caernarfon Show said they would not be attending.

Speckle Face specialist Glyn Roberts originally entered 12 sheep – as he did in 2009 – but this time was forced to cut numbers to seven.

As chairman of the Welsh Hill Speckle Face Sheep Society, he is annoyed that one of the traditional native Welsh breeds was forced to downsize its entry.

He said: “As our annual meetings we emphasise to members how important it is to take sheep to Builth Wells to ensure our breed remains in its own section, and is not combined with another breed.

“It’s a struggle but we make the effort, so we felt a bit let down when we we’re told to limit numbers.”

Ask exhibitors and they’ll tell you of tricks to maximise your entry. Some submit entries using multiple names to overcome restrictions on the number of permitted exhibits.

“I know of one exhibitor who enters sheep in his name, his wife’s name and in the names of his children,” said one sheep man.

The cattle men are unhappy too. It’s not cheap to show at the Royal Welsh – one, showing just two animals, said he’d be left with little change from £500.

Adding insult to injury is the decision, this year, to relocate some exhibitors and their caravans to a campsite two miles from the showground. A shuttle bus is being provided but many exhibitors are not placated. They want to be with their animals round-the-clock and, besides, night-time entertainment in the cattle lines is part of the Royal Welsh magic.

Glyn Roberts has his own solution. To be close to his sheep, he sleeps on the showground near the livestock sheds – not in a caravan but in his sheep trailer.

“We blow up a mattress – it’s as good as any hotel,” he said.

The RWAS admits it has a problem with livestock and has pledged to re-examine it before next year.

Show director Harry Fetherstonhaugh called it an “administrative nightmare” said a solution had be found to safeguard the showground’s caravan licensing.

But what can show organisers do? A lottery system of livestock entry is thought unfair. A qualifying system, in which animals collect points at feeder shows, was previously considered but is thought unworkable.

Many exhibitors favour a “first in, last out” system, with a waiting list, as at the Great Yorkshire Show. It does little to encourage younger farmers but it would reward loyalty.

Whatever system is adopted, the problem is likely to remain. For all their grumbles, the Royal Welsh is an event few exhibitors want to miss.